Radio propagation

Wireless weather is the sum of atmospheric and cosmic conditions that affect the current state of the propagation behavior of radio waves. As the weather is the wireless weather defined in the strict physical sense as a particular state at a particular location on the Earth's surface. Certain wireless weather conditions there can be in a laboratory as well as on a continent without the definition of the term " wireless weather " is changed.

General

Radio waves in the short wave range are reflected on the ionosphere, when incident at a certain angle thereto. The size of the incident angle, the waves must have, so that they are reflected on the ionosphere, depends on the frequency and the ionisation (presence of electrically charged particles ) of the Ionosphärengases. The ionization (generation of electrically charged particles ) of the gas molecules in the ionosphere is done by electrically charged elementary particles that take as the solar wind on the Earth's atmosphere.

Since the strength of the solar wind, among other things depends on the eleven-year sunspot cycle, is clearly observed on Earth also eleven years of fluctuation cycle of the radio weather in the shortwave range. However, even short-term fluctuations in solar activity affect the short- wave propagation on the Earth.

Radio services

For radio services in the short wave radio weather forecast is often useful. For this, there are computer programs that provide after entering the date (to capture the seasonal transition ) and the current solar activity (eg relative sunspot number ) a forecast of the quality of a shortwave connection between two also to be specified locations, or a statement about the short-wave cover a wide geographical area meet.

From the state of the troposphere, the short- wave propagation is independent. In the ultra-short wave range and at even shorter wavelengths, however, also tropospheric weather has an impact on the radio weather.

With the study of the influences on the weather radio deals in Germany, for example, the Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics in cooling Born.